Reach for Me
by Leemix
Summary: "She liked the sight of Winter. It left everything blank." - For Ikki is left rooted to the ground after the failed siege of Republic City, bound to a wheelchair and one arm short. (Rewrite/Companion to "Phantom Skin Feeling the Cold Air").
1. Ikki - Cold Air

**Ikki - Cold Air**

Chapped lips tasted the snowy air as it softly fell. The pale face lay in the overcast shadows of the shutters. One hand lay resting just shy of the window pane.

Republic City entered the first winter after a cycle of destruction had hit, and the first blanket of white coated the remaining rubble. The golden glow of the new spirit portal warmed the skies, tinting the glistening snow with it's garnish light. It was something indescribably beautiful to many.

Ikki clenched her fist and drew it away from the lit-up window, and slowly traced the stump on her right side, following the path of scars past up to her right ear. Her right arm was cut off. Tight, taut skin remained around the area of impact. Staining her skin a horrid fleshy pink. She bit her lip.

 _Ugly_. She sneered. _It's so ugly._

Her father had hailed her a hero that day. Her sister had cried and thanked her over and over until she was pulled away. Her mother had never been more proud. Meelo and Rohan didn't know _what_ to say when they saw her; bandaged, bruised, battered. They just wanted her to be better again.

She sunk further and further into the chair and closed her eyes. It was quiet in that room. Ikki had been moved to the bottom floor, where no stairs or bumps could hold her back. She furrowed her brows and held her head in her hand. Her forehead became drenched in a cold sweat.

Ikki didn't like it when her head felt like stone. It was like her brain was a rock. She passed the time clawing at her the skin on her forehead to try and get it out. Her mother had cut her nails to stop leaving marks.

A soft, tanned-skin hand placed itself on her scarred shoulder.

"Come on, Ikki," the voice said. It was nasally stuffy. "Time for your healing session."

Ikki nodded stiffly.

"I'll be right there with you. It's not that bad, really. It's kind of soothing."

Ikki pursed her lips and hung her head. The voice took her hand off Ikki's shoulder and grasped the handles of the chair, and moved her away from the window pane until she was faced away from it completely.

She liked the sight of Winter. It left everything blank.

* * *

 **a/n: Well, the summary pretty much, erm, summarises the intent of this story. It's a re-write of _Phantom Skin,_ with shorter chapters but _much_ more content that makes sense. Updates will most likely be fortnightly, but chapters will be short-and-sweet. Or, in the case of Ikki, sour. ;A; Baby. More information is found on my tumblr page, .com, under the tag "phantom skin feeling the cold air", or now under this story's name, "Reach for me". This story will also be available on AO3, or Archive of Our Own, so hopefully you guys will enjoy this! Please review, and thanks for your patience!**


	2. Ikki - Echoes

**Ikki - Echoes**

They didn't know she was watching them.

In the shadow of the veranda, Ikki sat silently in her wheelchair and looked out at the airbenders as they trained. They were light on their feet, moving around the training courses as if they had been training all their lives. In the distance she could make out Opal and Kai instructing more of the new recruits.

The suits that Asami had designed dotted the air, flecks of red over white clouds and pale skies. They danced on the chilled breeze, with their feet twirling and balancing on false support systems. Seeing them so carefree made Ikki's smile fade.

She was supposed to be there. She was the airbender before _all_ of them! Now she was stuck like _this_! Weak, crippled, _useless._ She was stuck and she _hated_ it!

Her messy hair covered her face, and she held a hand over her mouth as sobs ruptured her throat. The sobs came hiccuped and shattered, like a vice-grip had clawed through the skin on her neck and ruining her dress with it's splatters.

"Ikki?"

She dared not look up. Ikki knew that voice. A voice that had seen the fires of hell frosted over and cracked before her very eyes.

"Do you want me to wheel you back inside? We can talk then?"

Ikki barely managed a nod. Her bones were on fire.

They whispered on the wind.

 _Poor little girl. What kind of future will she have like that?_


End file.
